General – Page 146 – Crazy About Compost

Everything You Know About Composting is Wrong: Mike McGrath at TEDxPhoenixville (video)

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9OhxKlrWwc Super good video by the excellent entertainer Mike McGrath. I read Mike McGrath's Book of Compost a while back, and I honestly didn't expect him to be adamantly opposed to adding food scraps to compost piles. I wonder if he's saying that to avoid any conversation about what food is good or not good for your pile...I would understand that to an extent. Then again, I've learned over the years and I'm quite happy where I'm at with throwing absolutely everything in one pile and letting it do what it does. It works! I'll have to try his massive pile made strictly of shredded leaves and coffee grounds. I also like his comment railing against layering your materials...it's true! Just toss stuff in and mix it up. No need…

Compost Sanitation in Post Earthquake Haiti

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAuOHecBxP0 Joe's on fire for this presentation... I wonder if it's because it's for the U.S. Composting Council, and my guess is he has to be sharp for those folks. I wonder how supportive the U.S. Composting Council is of the best composting process you can be involved with...would be fun to write them about it (just did). I wish I had the cover materials available that they do in Haiti... tons and tons of sugar cane bagasse. He has 15 gallon buckets in use here, with the front of the compost toilet open. I fill my 5 gallon bucket pretty quickly and would love to try a 15 gallon. I guess the front is open so you don't have to pick it up as high...might be pretty heavy to…

Still Cookin’!

Pardon the ugly picture, but I couldn't resist. It's night time, but I couldn't wait until morning. On late Sunday afternoon, I went outside my house and found several bags of leaves at the curbside. I got really excited and stashed four massive bags in my backyard, in addition to the two that I shredded up and added to my compost pile. I was getting concerned about the compost pile, as it was starting to fall out of the Steady range around 80 degrees. Then I realized that it had been awhile since I added anything to it, so I contributed a hefty top layer of shredded leaves for insulation. I need to go looking for straw, too. In a little over 24 hours, just two bags' worth of shredded…